When Democracy Dies: Criminalizing The Words Not The Actions!

This orange imbecile wants it both ways.

A second Trump term is more chaotic than the first.

And y'all voted for this.

We are eight months into first year and he has a job approval of 42%.

The free speech debate is the latest culture war distraction. A week ago, white nationalist Charlie Kirk was assassinated by a white man in Utah. Somehow, the far right along with the 45th/47th President of the United States made the issue about the "left" and not the endless gun violence in the country.

Congress had blocked the release of the Jeffrey Epstein list once again.

Israel is continuing its genocide on Gaza. It has invaded Qatar, Tunisia, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank. World leaders labeled it a rouge state. Israel is pushing for a global war.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee denounce the United Nations report confirming the Israeli regime has conducted a pattern of violence, instability and aggressive manipulation. They want to punish world leaders and people traveling to the United States. Rubio plans on revoking American passports if they criticize Israel or Kirk.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth warns active military to not share posts on social media regarding Kirk. He also is targeting Black military officials because of the remarks of several members reacting to the white nationalist being killed.

All of this noise from the right has now made it possible for potential retaliation from those who were affected by losing their jobs. 

We cannot blame gun violence. It deflates the right's argument about violence coming from the "left." 

Make it make sense. The left is coming for your guns. The left is also violent. 

The left are a bunch of hippies. The left is the most violent.

It can't be both.

President Donald J. Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Congress, capitalism and Israel are the most unpopular things in the United States.

Examples of democratic backsliding include:

• Free and fair elections are degraded;
• Liberal rights of freedom of speech, press and association decline, impairing the ability of the political opposition to challenge the government, hold it to account, and propose alternatives to the current regime;
• The rule of law (i.e., judicial and bureaucratic restraints on the government) is weakened, such as when the independence of the judiciary is threatened, or when civil service tenure protections are weakened or eliminated.
• An over-emphasis on national security as response to acts of terrorism or perceived antagonists.

For the two political parties that claims to be about freedom, we are sure as hell loosing it by the day. The Democratic Party is moving towards conservatism while the Republican Party is moving towards fascism. Regardless of the political affiliation, both parties are quietly rolling back long established norms to a functioning democracy.

The continuation of policies that keep billionaires richer, Israel committing international chaos, interfering with the working class and poor will signal a potential for the two things:

World War III.

A civil war in the United States.

Things that keep conservatives up at night.

• People mocking President Donald J. Trump, Vice President JD Vance, First Lady Melania Trump, Second Lady Usha Vance, the late Charlie Kirk, his wife Erika, their family members, ICE and notable conservative agitators. 
• Calling Trump supporters enablers of violence, fascism, racism, extremism and stupidity.
• Woke (which they don't even know the definition of).
• Socialism.
• Communism.
• Progressive activism.
• People using food stamps to buy soda and cookies.
• People speaking Spanish or Arabic in public.
• People who are Mexican, Guatemalan, Honduran, Salvadoran, Colombian, Chinese, Palestinian, Senagelese, Haitian, Puerto Rican, Venezuelan, Bolivian, Iranian, Syrian, Indian, Pakistani, Somalian, Sudanese, Nigerian, Congolese and Liberian.
• People who practice in Islam, Satanism, Scientology and Wiccan.
• DEI, which is the building block of a democracy.
• Transgender actors, athletes, politicians, religious leaders and activists.
• Two men walking down the street holding hands.
• Men (not identified as transgender) wearing heels, a dress or mini skirt in public.
• A sex worker (not a prostitute or entertainer) dressed inappropriately.
• Homeless Americans.
• Panhandlers.
• Independent women.
• People in the streets openly using drugs.
• Black teens.
• Black men and women posing with money and firearms.
• Black Lives Matter.
• Removing Confederate memorials or renaming streets based on Blacks.
• George Floyd.
• Calling for the destruction of Israel.
• Mocking President Donald J. Trump for being a felon, sexual predator and fraudster.
• Comedians or television programs mocking Trump, Republicans or activists.
• New social media platforms that ban misinformation, racism and junk science.
• The New York Times.
• CNN.
• MSNBC.
• Democrats.
• Nancy Pelosi.
• Ilhan Omar.
• Jasmine Crockett.
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
• Barack and Michelle Obama.
• Bill and Hillary Clinton.
• Joe and Jill Biden.
• Bernie Sanders.
• Jimmy Carter.
• Adam Schiff.
• Beyoncé. 
• Taylor Swift.
• Duchess Meghan of Sussex.
• Pornography.
• Hunter Biden.
• Critical race theory.
• Pride flags.
• France.
• Films of the past where white actors had leading roles now being recasted with people of color, those in the LGBTQ community or non Christian religions.
• Saying Jews control the media and government.
• Climate change.
• Calling for gun control in the wake of mass shootings.
• Black mayors.
• Male cheerleaders.
• Women who are men's sport coaches, referees, umpires and announcers.

People, please do not resort to the levels of those who profit off the anger. The anger of right wing Americans in the wake of white nationalist Charlie Kirk's death has sparked a censorship and harassment campaign.

The right wing ain't got the smoke for the shooter, his family and the Utah state government allowing open carry on school campuses. They ain't got the smoke for the people who advocate violence against people perceived as threats to society.

They want to go after the vulnerable. Typical of these folks.

All the while, the rich are getting richer. Israel is still committing a genocide and war crimes from every angle. Russia is pushing further in Ukraine with Lithuania and Poland next on the country'stagnant. China is becoming the superpower as they are moving on from exporting goods to the United States for other nations.

China is working on solving problems the United States failed at doing. 

Food prices are increasing. 

General merchandise prices are increasing.

The cost of living is increasing.

Inflation has rising this month.

Unemployment is increasing.

Gasoline prices are increasing.

Wages are stagnant.

Jobs are not satisfying.

Where does the outrage go to?

Random people who don't agree with these folks politics.

What Golden Age?

The whole getting people fired for mocking the tragic attack shows how the Republicans are willing to sabotage the country. That means more people out of work which leads to more economic uncertainty.  More folks will resort to lawsuits against the instigators, violence towards the instigators, violence towards their employers, violence towards the workers who got them fired and violence towards the agitators who called for their firing.

When a person's death in a high profile incident like a shooting is lionized in the junk food media, the sides get to blaming.

The shooter was a white man. It wasn't a Black man, a Muslim, an immigrant or a transgender person. Why you got to lump them in this white on white violence?

They never had this energy for every other victim of gun violence. They only show it for a polarizing white nationalist who insults Americans for profit.

These agitators calling for violence, revenge, firings and public shaming are well within their right to do so. But don't get upset when the tables turn. Or when the next shooting involves them. 

These agitators on the far right are not going to risk their lives or freedom. They are counting on the mentally disturbed and emotionally unstable to do their work.

Trump is escalating threats to crack down on what he describes as the “radical left” following Charlie Kirk’s assassination, stirring fears that his administration is trying to harness outrage over the killing to suppress political opposition.

Without establishing any link to last week’s shooting, the Republican president and members of his administration have discussed classifying some groups as domestic terrorists, ordering racketeering investigations and revoking tax-exempt status for progressive nonprofits. The White House pointed to Indivisible, a progressive activist network, and the Open Society Foundations, founded by George Soros, as potential subjects of scrutiny.

Although administration officials insist that their focus is preventing violence, critics see an extension of Trump’s campaign of retribution against his political enemies and an erosion of free speech rights. Any moves to weaken liberal groups could also shift the political landscape ahead of next year’s midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress and statehouses across the country.

“The radical left has done tremendous damage to the country,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday morning when leaving for a state visit to the United Kingdom. “But we’re fixing it.”

Trump has sometimes made similar threats without following through. But now there’s renewed interest fueled by anger over the killing of Kirk, a conservative activist who was a prominent supporter of Trump and friends with many of his advisers.

Dozens of nonprofit leaders, representing organizations including the Ford Foundation, the Omidyar Network and the MacArthur Foundation, released a joint letter saying “we reject attempts to exploit political violence to mischaracterize our good work or restrict our fundamental freedoms.”

“Attempts to silence speech, criminalize opposing viewpoints, and misrepresent and limit charitable giving undermine our democracy and harm all Americans,” they wrote.

White House blames ‘terrorist networks’

Authorities said they believe the suspect in Kirk’s assassination acted alone, and they charged him with murder on Tuesday.

However, administration officials have repeatedly made sweeping statements about the need for broader investigations and punishments related to Kirk’s death.

Attorney General Pam Bondi blamed “left-wing radicals” for the shooting and said “they will be held accountable.” Stephen Miller, a top policy adviser, said there was an “organized campaign that led to this assassination.”

Miller’s comments came during a conversation with Vice President JD Vance, who was guest-hosting Kirk’s talk show from his ceremonial office in the White House on Monday.

Miller said he was feeling “focused, righteous anger,” and “we are going to channel all of the anger” as they work to “uproot and dismantle these terrorist networks” by using “every resource we have.”

Vance blamed “crazies on the far left” for saying the White House would “go after constitutionally protected speech.” Instead, he said, “We’re going to go after the NGO network that foments, facilitates and engages in violence.”

Asked for examples, the White House pointed to demonstrations where police officers and federal agents have been injured, as well as the distribution of goggles and face masks during protests over immigration enforcement in Los Angeles.

There was also a report that Indivisible offered to reimburse people who gathered at Tesla dealerships to oppose Elon Musk’s leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency. Sometimes cars were later vandalized.

Indivisible’s leadership has said “political violence is a cancer on democracy” and said that their own organization has “been threatened by right-wingers all year.”

Nonprofits brace for impact

Trump’s executive actions have rattled nonprofit groups with attempts to limit their work or freeze federal funding, but more aggressive proposals to revoke tax-exempt status never materialized.

Now the mood has darkened as nonprofits recruit lawyers and bolster the security of their offices and staff.

“It’s a heightened atmosphere in the wake of political violence, and organizations who fear they might be unjustly targeted in its wake are making sure that they are ready,” said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the government watchdog group Public Citizen.

Trump made retribution against political enemies a cornerstone of his comeback campaign, and he’s mobilized the federal government to reshape law firms, universities and other traditionally independent institutions. He also ordered an investigation into ActBlue, an online liberal fundraising platform.

Some nonprofits expect the administration to focus on prominent funders like Soros, a liberal billionaire who has been a conservative target for years, to send a chill through the donor community.

Trump recently said Soros should face a racketeering investigation, though he didn’t make any specific allegations. The Open Society Foundations condemned violence and Kirk’s assassination in a statement and said “it is disgraceful to use this tragedy for political ends to dangerously divide Americans and attack the First Amendment.”

Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, wrote on social media that “the murder of Charlie Kirk could have united Americans to confront political violence” but “Trump and his anti-democratic radicals look to be readying a campaign to destroy dissent.”

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said “it is disingenuous and false for Democrats to say administration actions are about political speech.” She said the goal is to “target those committing criminal acts and hold them accountable.”

Republicans back Trump’s calls for investigations

Trump’s concerns about political violence are noticeably partisan. He described people who rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as “hostages” and “patriots,” and he pardoned 1,500 of them on his first day back in the Oval Office. He also mocked House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi after an attack on her husband.

When Trump condemned Kirk’s killing in a video message last week, he mentioned several examples of “radical left political violence” but ignored attacks on Democrats.

Asked on Monday about the killing of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman over the summer, Trump said “I’m not familiar” with the case.

“Trump shrugs at right-wing political violence,” said Ezra Levin, the co-executive director of Indivisible, in a newsletter.

Some conservative commentators have cheered on a potential crackdown. Laura Loomer, a conspiracy theorist with a long record of bigoted comments, said “let’s shut the left down.” She also said that she wants Trump “to be the ‘dictator’ the left thinks he is.”

Katie Miller, the wife of Stephen Miller and a former administration spokeswoman, asked Bondi whether there would be “more law enforcement going after these groups” and “putting cuffs on people.”

“We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech,” Bondi said. “And that’s across the aisle.”

Her comments sparked a backlash from across the political spectrum, since even hate speech is generally considered to be protected under the First Amendment. Bondi was more circumspect on social media on Tuesday morning, saying they would focus on “hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence.”

Trump is getting more support from Republicans in Congress. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and others proposed legislation that would enable the Justice Department to use racketeering laws, originally envisioned to combat organized crime, to prosecute violent protesters and the groups that support them.

Rep. Chip Roy of Texas wants the House to create a special committee to investigate the nonprofit groups, saying “we must follow the money to identify the perpetrators of the coordinated anti-American assaults being carried out against us.”